Have you ever said one thing when you really mean something else? I don’t mean the times that you misspeak (“Hey honey, sorry the oven burned the dinner tonight. It didn’t? Oh…”). I mean the times when your phrase should mean one thing, but when you use it, it means something else.
For example…”I’m fine” really means “Back off or suffer the consequences.”
Or “It was a slow day at work” really means “I am now the world master at Minesweeper.”
Or “Yeah….oh, cool……..really?……awesome…..” really means “I’m so bored, bored, bored, bored bored bored. So bored.
A squad-mate of mine recently shared some exciting news with all of us on the squad, and another squad-mate shared in the excitement by proclaiming “Praise God!”. This was great, and it has been very encouraging to be able to join with others in celebrating good news. However, I had an issue.
My issue was not with the news, or the proclamation, but with how I read the proclamation. You see, when I read “Praise God!“, I read it as “That’s exciting!“, and that’s not at all the same thing. I read it as “I’m so happy for you!” or “That’s amazing!”. I changed the phrase from praising Heavenly intervention into just another statement of human emotion. My version of “Praise God” had nothing to do with praising or with God.
At those times of sharing good news, we (I) should be ALL about praising God. We should say “I’m so happy for you…that God showed you His love,” or “That’s amazing… that He blesses us,” or “That’s exciting…that you experienced Him.”
When I say or read “Praise God!”, I should actually be praising God! I should be giving Him glory for his goodness, provision, faithfulness, attention to detail, and impossible-to-comprehend power. I should mean what I say instead of cheapening the gift of worship.
Let’s really worship when we worship. Let’s really pray when we pray. Let’s really PRAISE GOD when we have good news that comes from his Good News. “Praise God” should not be just another expression of excitement, and from now on, it will mean what it means: that my God deserves all of the glory for making whatever happened happen. He deserves praise.
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
-Psalm 18
